For Russia, Fight against West has Turned from a Means to an End and a Basis for Self-Assertion, Nikulin Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Aug. 8 – In Soviet times, the fight against the hated West was invariably presented as a means to an end, the promotion of the spread of socialism; but now it has been transformed into an end in itself, the basis all by itself for the self-assertion of Russians, Andrey Nikulin says.

            “For some reason,” the Moscow commentator says, “we have forgotten that at first the confrontation with the US was a continuation of the world socialist revolution.” Now, Russia has no interest in the latter and has made fighting the West an end in itself for most but not quite all of its population kasparov.ru/material.php?id=62F3439399D28&section_id=50A6C962A3D7C).

            For members of the elite, there is some justification for such a position because the West represents not only a demand for respecting the rights of people but also for government accountability and the regular rotation of those in office. But for the masses, there is no such justification, Nikulin says.

            But despite the absence of such arguments, “anti-Western sentiments are also popular among the population,” perhaps because of inertia but also because the elites have promoted the mistaken notion that only such hostility will make it possible for Russians once again to rise from their knees and stand up against others.